In celebration of my grandmother's ninetieth birthday on January 8 2024, I collaborated with several family members to bring to fruition a very special project: a book. My grandmother--Ofelia Guillen--whose work is featured in Entre's premiere issue, is a prolific poet; my mother--Martha Guillen-Paramo--whose expressive and vivid works can be seen on the cover of each volume, is a visual artist. Guillen's poems and Guillen-Paramo's paintings come together in a moving, introspective, and vulnerable dialogue present in the pages of this book, aptly entitled Las Ventanitas Entre Dos Mujeres (The Little Windows Between Two Women).

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Not only did I have the honor of helping design Las Ventanitas, but I also had the opportunity to be the first to transcribe some of my grandmother's poetry from her handwritten notebooks when the manuscript was first taking shape. I would visit her at her home, sit with her at her dining room table, and there, she would recite her poems to me as I typed them out. I enjoyed listening to her explain to me the meaning behind--or inspiration for--her poems throughout this process. While I am far from proficient in Spanish myself, I found that I could still enjoy my grandmother's poetry in a different way--the passion and strength with which she would speak, the rhythm and dance in her words--were very palpable things. One need not understand Spanish to appreciate the beauty, the emotion, the rawness in Guillen's poetic voice. My experiences transcribing my grandmother's poetry helped me better appreciate her as a person; I gained a clearer understanding of her spirituality, her connection to her homeland, her appreciation for the earth, and her story.

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As Martha's son, I also had the unique experience of witnessing, at least in part, my mother create many of the paintings and drawings that also inhabit the book. Watching my mother work over her canvases, watching her breathe life into the vivid, dynamic, and reflective works that not only decorate the pages of the book but the walls of our home and the homes of others, also helped me better appreciate her in ways I had not before. Not unlike my grandmother's poetry, there is a palpable energy, rhythm, and emotion in my mother's art that speak to who she is, her story, her connections to her family and her faith. 

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My mother and grandmother are women of two separate generations and experiences whose voices come together in an emotive and intuitive harmony in the form of Las Ventanitas. The book is not simply a collection of poetry and art, but it is also a biography, an immigrant story, a generational exploration, a testament to the strength of women, and a celebration of faith, family, nature, and culture.

 

Spanning over 150 pages, the book--now available for purchase through Entre's website--comprises nearly 70 of Guillen's poems, in her original language, most of which are paired with one of Guillen-Paramo's thought-provoking and powerful visual works. Additionally, an introduction (in both English and Spanish), biographies (in both English and Spanish), and my grandmother's pensamientos (thoughts) have been captured through scans of her journals and aforementioned notebooks--depictions of her handwriting constructing her inner thoughts and original drafts--which were carefully curated by my mother.

 

Each poem, painting, and pensamiento is an experience in its own right, a ventanita--a little window--into the hearts, souls, and stories of these two incredible women, and I invite you to take a look!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​